SB June session Joint opening intervention, Cathy Yitong Li


Virtual (May 31, 2021) – Cathy Yitong Li, on behalf of the Women and Gender Constituency, reminded Parties of the Paris principles – respecting human rights, the rights of Indigenous Peoples, gender equality, intergenerational equity, ecosystem integrity, food security and a just transition – which are critical to all climate action. These are currently not respected in the disourse on so-called “solutions” by large emitters fail to meet the need of this moment, which is a full-scale transition away from fossil fuel and dirty energy infrastructure, and a commitment to safe, sustainable and regenerative consumption and production models. More often, “solutions” instead only work to further green neocolonialism via offset projects in developing nations. During the SB informal consultations on Article 6 human rights safeguards need to be established. She concluded that the global COVID-19 pandemic has fueled even greater disparity between developed and developing countries, and among people and communities, while the climate crisis grows, with commitments from countries – from NDCs to finance – show us far away from reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement.